In connection with the fighting of forest fires and rural fires it frequently becomes necessary to utilize water from various reservoirs, ponds and lakes and which is pumped into portable tanks and then transported and dumped on the fire.
Pick-up nozzles for this purpose as well as those used in pumping oil and the like from spills occurring on large bodies of water have had various details of construction for maintaining their position and preventing damage from debris and the like.
Since the nozzles are connected to a suction pump it becomes essential that they protect the pump against damage from various solid objects and debris.
Furthermore it is important to prevent clogging of the nozzles.
"Float Dock" strainers put out by Fol-Da-Tank Company of Rock Island, Illinois have been a type of nozzle heretofore employed. Another is the "Ken-Mar" low-level strainer marketed by Ken-Mar, Inc. of High Point, North Carolina.
The "Float Dock" strainer is said to maintain suction intake only to within approximately five inches of the bottom upon which it rests, and the "Ken-Mar" strainer is said to maintain suction only to within four inches of the bottom.